Facebook shares two annotated internal research docs about Instagram's impact on teen mental health, after being notified of WSJ's plans to publish the docs

The company shared the PDFs Wednesday night — Facebook has shared the internal research about the impact of Instagram … Source: Facebook and Facebook .

The Verge 2021-09-30

Context & Ripple Effects

Facebook first disputed the Journal's interpretation of its research, then Nick Clegg said the company would release two central slide decks publicly. The annotated release turns that promise into a bid to frame the evidence before broader reporting lands.

The dispute is not limited to isolated findings: earlier reporting said Facebook's own research found harm for a sizeable share of users, particularly teen girls, while Instagram was also pursuing teen retention through influencer and recommendation changes.

First-order effects

Facebook gains an immediate chance to attach its interpretation to two internal documents, while the WSJ gains a public record against which to test that framing.
Instagram's teen-safety narrative faces more direct scrutiny because the disclosed research sits alongside reporting on internal findings of harm to teen girls.

Second-order effects

The WSJ's publication of six source documents reduces Facebook's ability to make two annotated decks the complete public account of its research.
Instagram's efforts to attract and retain teens become harder to separate from the well-being debate, increasing pressure on Facebook to reconcile product choices with its stated interpretation of the research.

Third-order effects

The episode points toward corporate research becoming a contested public artifact: companies may preempt unfavorable reporting with curated disclosures, while journalists counter with fuller underlying records.
If this disclosure pattern persists, product-safety debates at large platforms will increasingly hinge on access to internal evidence and on who controls its presentation.

The trend: Platform accountability is shifting from disputes over public statements toward battles over the release, selection, and interpretation of internal research.

Discussion

@georgia_wells Georgia Wells on x
Facebook published two of these slide decks about half an hour after we went to them for comment about the documents we planned to publish.
@fbnewsroom @fbnewsroom on x
Today we provided Congress with the research decks that were the primary focus of the Wall Street Journal's mischaracterization of internal Instagram research on teenagers and well-being. We published these two research decks with annotations here: https://about.fb.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
In talking to current and former employees at Facebook, one of the takeaways from them based on this is that the company is ready to throw its own researchers under the bus to save itself. https://twitter.com/...
@andymstone Andy Stone on x
As @nickclegg pledged on Monday, today we released the internal research that was the focus of the Wall Street Journal's story on teens and Instagram. https://about.fb.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
I just asked a Facebook spokesperson if they front-ran the WSJ by publishing the annotated documents, knowing that the Journal was about to publish their sets of slides. They declined to comment.
@shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
It feels like now there will be endless fights about the meaning of research slides. Does that distract from the big question: What *should* be done to maximize the good from Facebook & Instagram and minimize the harm? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
I second this! I am going to highly recommend EVERYONE read Facebook's annotations dismissing its own research and stating that the exec presentation slides should not be interpreted as saying the things they actually say. You need to check this out! Click through to the docs! ht…
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
For a big PR shop like Facebook's, front-running a reporter's story when they come to you with a heads-up or request for comment is an act of contempt or desperation. You win some short-term control of the narrative at the cost of journalists being able to trust you ever again. h…
@lam_barrett Lindsey Barrett on x
you ever physically feel sweat dripping off a quote https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
The last time Facebook front-ran a story like this was ........ Cambridge Analytica https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
“The headline should be clarified to be: ‘Teens who have lower life satisfaction more likely to say Instagram makes their mental health or the way they feel about themselves worse than teens who are satisfied with their lives.’” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
The annotations on this research calls the findings and how they were presented “myopic” in one instance. On another slide, the company calls into question the very definition of “mental health.” Imagine being a PhD who goes to work at Facebook and getting called out this way.
@frankpallone Rep. Frank Pallone on x
Facebook's efforts to attract children and teenagers to its platforms are concerning, especially given the toxic effects it has on their mental health. The safety and privacy of young people should be an absolute priority. https://www.wsj.com/...
@can @can on x
This is good journalism in action, methinks https://twitter.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
Hello to these redacted people, your company just did a number on your report. Dm is open https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
FB's reluctantly released IG deck includes annotations assiduously assembled to undermine and discredit whistleblown materials. In effect, they characterize their own internal teen mental health “deep dives” as nearly pointless busywork for researcher cosplay. For the downplay.
@sengillibrand Kirsten Gillibrand on x
Playdates shouldn't be growth opportunities for Big Tech companies like Facebook. Our kids are being targeted at younger and younger ages. We urgently need a Data Protection Agency to protect them and their data online. https://www.wsj.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
old enough to remember when Facebook pulled that front-running job on NYT/Guardian and posted news that Cambridge Analytica was suspended to FB newsroom before big story ran about that whistleblowing https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Facebook annotating (shitting on) its own research is a look. https://twitter.com/...
@washingtonpost @washingtonpost on x
Facebook releases documents about its products' effects on adults' and teens' mental health as lawmakers gear up to deliver the company a brutal rebuke at a Capitol Hill hearing https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@emmalbriant @emmalbriant on x
@JeffHorwitz They are so shameless. How do they not understand how bad this makes them look. 😆🤦‍♀ ️
@johnbattelle John Battelle on x
And if you want to know why the free press matters, here ya go. https://twitter.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
which of these slides do you think was written by a lawyer https://twitter.com/...
@abebrown716 Abe Brown on x
If Facebook wanted a good faith discussion about its research, why wait until 8 pm—and the end of the daily news cycle—to release them? https://twitter.com/...
@sal19 Sal Rodriguez on x
FB dropping these decks after 5pm pacific the night before their hearing shows nothing has changed as far their PR strategies go https://twitter.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
you released 2 decks with ~75 pages of annotations from Facebook PR at 8pm the night before the hearing. thanks? https://twitter.com/...
@mbfhunzaker Mary Beth Hunzaker on x
Perhaps, if FB execs gave as much scrutiny to potential integrity risks in new feature launches as they do to subtitle phrasing in leaked research decks... We wouldn't all be here dealing with these problems? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
This is not new but we are watching a FB PR multi-car pileup https://twitter.com/...
@jaykaydee JKD on x
It's fascinating that Facebook, so responsible for accelerating our epistemic crisis, is seemingly so unaware of its consequences. Truly, who do they think is going to be persuaded by this maneuver? And why? https://twitter.com/...
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
This is a new for me in 2.5 years covering Facebook — I have always been able to rely on the company's word on professional matters, and was told when I started this beat that the old “Front-running the NYT on Russia stuff” move was retired. But circumstances change.
@georgia_wells Georgia Wells on x
Here are six internal Facebook documents that @JeffHorwitz and I used to report the teen mental health on Instagram story. I'd suggest starting with: TEEN GIRLS BODY IMAGE https://www.wsj.com/...
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
So here is a selection of the documents related to teen mental health that we relied on. Facebook just ran two docs — minutes after we gave the company an hour's notice and received a commitment that they wouldn't front-run publication. https://www.wsj.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
the full slides released by @WSJ are WILD. in this presentation, Facebook researchers explain exactly how & why Instagram drives teen girls into downward spirals of depression in ways that other platforms don't. https://s.wsj.net/... https://twitter.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
so Facebook releases 2 decks loaded with annotations dismissing their own internal research hours before a major hearing, feigning “transparency”... ...WSJ promptly calls their BS & then releases 4 additional Facebook decks that informed their reporting. 🙃 https://www.wsj.com/...…
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
Just read these documents, which included material FB did not include in its document dump tonight. Totally eye-opening and 👏 to @WSJ for releasing https://twitter.com/...
@digitalprivacy @digitalprivacy on x
the WSJ “Facebook Files” is a must read. there is still a bit of fight left in traditional long form (print) media. what the story reveals is the lack of fundamental ethics in FB top management. and that won't change. /P. https://twitter.com/...
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
Finally: getting these documents clean and privacy concern-free takes a lot of time and resources it turns out. Really grateful to colleagues who made it happen.
@davidakaye David Kaye on x
the granularity of FB's research into American teen usage is impressive (& depressing, of course) - and just makes me want to see evidence of that same granularity in every one of the company's markets worldwide. https://twitter.com/...
@dseetharaman Deepa Seetharaman on x
If you'd like to see the six internal Facebook studies our Instagram investigation relied on, here they are. https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@fboversight @fboversight on x
🚨BREAKING🚨: WSJ #FacebookFiles team releases the internal Facebook documents, on Instagram, they reviewed in their reporting. @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/...
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
This is the stuff that may deserve the most attention out of the whole bunch. Instagram can argue with its own research methodology, but this is the company's own conception of its relative harm. https://twitter.com/...
@zamosta Aaron Zamost on x
If you're the comms person who front-ran the WSJ after telling them you wouldn't, I have to assume someone senior overruled you, at which point you have no choice but to resign. https://twitter.com/...
@jasonrdean Jason Dean on x
Facebook faces the Senate over its impact on teen mental health. Read the documents that helped prompt the hearing, via @WSJ (Yes, this is more docs than you might've seen elsewhere this evening. And without the spin) https://www.wsj.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
1) Facebook has no respect for the press and its responsibility to communicate to the world the best available set of facts 2) this report has them deeply concerned to burn WSJ as they did NYT and Guardian. Lock this into your brains - their PR team has no remaining cred.
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
Also, if you're looking to actually review the documents we wrote our story off of — we made far more of those available than the two slide decks that FB rushed out. And none of the annotations undermine FB's mental health researchers!
@wsj @wsj on x
Facebook is scheduled to testify at a Senate hearing Thursday about its products' effects on young people's mental health. Read the documents that helped prompt the hearing. https://www.wsj.com/...
@sfpelosi Christine Pelosi on x
Why doesn't @facebook just stop the shenanigans and release ALL the docs? They put their name @ChanZuckerberg all over public hospital spaces — all the while hiding their negative impact on people's mental health from the public. #Shame https://twitter.com/...
@60minutes @60minutes on x
She left Facebook concerned, and with copies of thousands of pages of research. Meet the Facebook whistleblower. Scott Pelley reports, 60 Minutes Sunday. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Didn't think it would be possible to feel bad for a Facebook executive. But it really should be Adam Mosseri the head of Instagram testifying tomorrow before Congress, not Ms. Davis. https://twitter.com/...
@senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x
This whistleblower's testimony will be critical to understanding what Facebook knew about its platforms' toxic effects on young users, when they knew it, & what they did about it. I look forward to a discussion of these wide ranging & stunning allegations. https://twitter.com/...
@viacristiano Cristiano Lima on x
🚨 It's official: Facebook whistleblower testifying before Senate next week https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
Who is Antigone Davis? Facebook's Head of Safety will testify to the Senate tomorrow. She's not among the best known representatives of the company- so I looked at some of what is in the public domain to better understand her role: https://techpolicy.press/...
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
It's time for accountability from Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@melissaryan Melissa Ryan on x
This should be a sobering hearing. I swear if one Senator asks a question about conservative bias or pulls a Ted Cruz-style stunt... https://twitter.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
A Facebook whistleblower to testify in Senate consumer protection hearing next Tuesday held by @SenBlumenthal and @MarshaBlackburn https://twitter.com/...

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